We were excited to meet with Mr Lee Rich, the Head of the Humanities. We spoke to Mr Rich to learn more about him and his roles.

How long have you worked at the school?

It has been just over 2 years, I started in September 2022.

What does your role involve?

I am the Head of the Humanities Faculty so, as well as being the sole History teacher here, I also have responsibility for managing the members of staff who teach Business Studies, Economics, Geography and Psychology. I oversee their performance management, proof-read their reports, chair faculty meetings, manage the budget and represent the Humanities faculty at the Head of Departments and Head of Faculty meetings we have every couple of weeks. Exciting stuff!

What’s your favourite thing about the school?

I find the whole school environment very calm and peaceful - after teaching at some pretty large and quite rough schools earlier in my career, this is a welcome change. I get the impression that our pupils are genuinely grateful to be here and want to make the most of their time with us, which leads to a strong work ethic, at least most of the time!

What advice would you give to pupils to help them get the most out of their time here?

Simply to take advantage of the multitude of opportunities that are available to them whether that be through sport, music, school trips or any of the other varied co-curricular activities that are on offer. Having worked in 6 other schools before Mill Hill InternationalI can tell them that this isn't always the norm so they should dive straight in!

What’s your favourite book and film for our pupils, and why?

Book: Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. It's about an Arsenal-obsessed History teacher in a North London school who measures the important events in his life against key Arsenal matches. It is practically autobiographical!

History-wise I would say Fatherland by Robert Harris; I love all of his books - they are fictional thrillers set during real historical events. Fatherland is based on the concept of what the world would have been like if Germany had won WW2 and Britain was under German occupation. It'sa great book although they made it into a terrible movie!

Film: The Shawshank Redemption. Not the most original choice, I know, but there is a reason why it regularly comes near the top of every poll about the best films of all time. The last 20 minutes of the film are still the best of any I've seen - a great twist and a genuinely happy ending that always gives me goosebumps. It's the sort of film you have to watch whenever it comes on, even if you have seen it several times over. For the record, I'd put Die Hard, The Usual Suspects and Pulp Fiction in that category as well!

Can you share an inspirational quote and explain why it resonates with you?

A quote I really like is from Sir Alex Ferguson who said 'Hard work will always overcome natural talent when natural talent does not work hard enough.' He was obviously talking about his career in football but it definitely applies to many other walks of life, including education.

What’s something interesting about you that people might not know?

How about the fact that, when I was 12, I won the gold award at the Barnet Drama Festival - I played Ernie in Ernie's Incredible Hallucinations, Alan Ayckbourn, a play about a schoolboy who can make his dreams come to life! If only it were real!!